SPPF GOVERNMENT DOUBLES FUEL TAXES
The government has doubled taxes on fuel at the pump amidst fears that the economy was heading for total economic collapse. Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly has published a chart which clearly shows that that the CIF (landed cost) of petrol and diesel has not changed at all. What has changed is the GST and Trades Tax charged by the government on top of the CIF cost. Many people expressed concern when President James Michel started giving freebies as inducement during the Presidential election of 2006 in order to influence a result in his favour. Many asked then when and where the government is going to recover the shortfall. After a long embarrassing silence on the issue the government has taken the bull by the horns and increased taxes on fuel to make up for the shortfall in revenue. There are also unfounded rumours that contrary to what the Minister of Finance stated before the National Assembly on Tuesday the US$30, 000, 000 is to pay for our impending fuel bill which has reached breaking point.
The fact that the government has raised both petrol and diesel to an all time high of R.10.00 per litre has been deemed as callous by many. After promising the nation that the government will absorb the increase in prices of the cost of petrol on the international market president James Michel has gone full circle on his election promises to the consternation of most. The adage never trust a politician has truly proven true in the case of President Michel. The irony is that in South Africa the cost of fuel per litre has inexplicably gone down. For his part the President has remained suspiciously quiet on the issue preferring to send Afif and Adam to give us the bad news. Instead he chose to go to Mont Buxton to visit some half completed houses to sweeten the bitter news. The reality is that under the leadership of President James Michel Seychellois are getting poorer and signs of poverty are beginning to slip through the cracks as many can be seen begging, roving in public bins for something to eat and sleeping rough in the capital as the economic crisis kicks in. There is a general sense that the President is slowly loosing his grip on the overall situation in the country and people fighting for wood at SMB this week brought the reality closer to home. It also exposed the myth that things are improving considerably as the President wanted us to believe. Another crisis is quickly unfolding and is imminent as the commercial banks have refused to open a letter of credit for the only company importing cement to the country at the moment, making it practically impossible for an ordinary Seychellois family to obtain construction materials to build their own houses. The government for its part has turned a blind eye pretending that the problem does not exist. The question political observers are now asking is how long will the Seychellois continue to suffer in silence before the SPPF actually pays the ultimate price; a loss at the polls in 2011. The likelihood of such an eventually is now more tangible than a mere speculation!
